LET'S be realistic; while upsets do happen in sport, if Greater Western Sydney had beaten West Coast at Blacktown yesterday, it would have been bigger than when the tortoise controversially upset the hare in that famous race all those years ago.

Beau Waters of the Eagles and Israel Folau of the Giants contest a mark. Photo: Getty Images

There was no fairytale upset and for the first half-hour it looked like a horror story for the new franchise, but after the final siren the Giants had won over quite a few sceptics with a gritty and gusty performance … albeit in an 81-point loss.

It may seem odd to state such a thing after a hammering, but having trailed by 58 points after just one quarter, the final margin really could have been anything.

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The Giants kicked the highest total of the three matches in their inaugural season and even managed to outscore the highly touted Eagles in the final quarter.

''I felt we were very competitive the last three quarters and that's a great experience for our boys,'' said GWS coach Kevin Sheedy. ''That's probably the best three quarters we have put in. From quarter-time onwards, it was eight goals to 12, and you would accept that.

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''[Winning the last quarter] that was very important. To wear a team down, and show determination, and some of the players are growing in their confidence each quarter … you could see that.

''West Coast are going to be a top four [side] and in the grand final maybe. We have just got to get off to a better start.''

To make matters worse for the home team, in the opening term it seemed every West Coast player had brought their good goalkicking boots. Almost all of their first six goals came from kicks of more than 40 metres, with Luke Shuey bagging three and Chris Masten and Josh Kennedy two apiece.

By quarter-time, it was a very black town. The Eagles had kicked 11.4 (70) to GWS's 2.0 (12) - the Eagles' best first-quarter score in their 25-year history, and the equal of their best-ever quarter, the 11.4 second quarter against North Melbourne in 2000.

Not surprisingly, there was more interest in potential records at that point than anything else.

Top of the record list was the highest score ever, the 37.17 (239) Geelong kicked against the Brisbane Bears in 1992, then there was the record margin of 190 set by Fitzroy when it beat Melbourne 36.22 (238) to 6.12 (48) in 1979.

Toss in West Coast's biggest score - 29.18 (192) against Brisbane in 1988 - and its biggest win - 135 points against Adelaide in 1995.

But scoring slowed dramatically in the second term, and the Eagles hadn't even cracked the ton by the long break, leading 15.8 (98) to 4.1 (25), sending the keepers of the records back into their library.

The Giants, through Adam Tomlinson, got the first goal of the third quarter, but by the end of the stanza the Eagles had kicked six to two, and the margin was one kick away from triple figures - 21.9 (135) to 6.5 (41) - and those who had given the 99.5-points start were counting their cash.

But to their credit - and the angst of those punters - the Giants outkicked the visitors by four goals to two to win just their second of the 12 quarters of AFL football they have played.

''There was some exciting ball movement by GWS in that last quarter, they were pretty crisp,'' said Eagles coach John Worsfold.

Shuey kicked five goals for West Coast, with Masten and Quinten Lynch each notching three. Ruckman Jonathan Giles kicked three goals for GWS.

Scott Selwood led the Eagles' possessions with 31, followed by Masten (30), while Callan Ward tallied 36 and Tom Scully (30) for the Giants. With AAP